Data is at the beating heart of most organisations but often they fail to maximise accessibility of that data for the true benefit of the whole business.

This is especially true of offshore and marine organisations where locations are spread across the seas and where high growth companies are now dealing with big data issues.

One person who recognises the importance of good data management is Ian Robertson of Seajacks. Seajacks has grown rapidly in recent years and their success has brought new big data challenges. Through sourcing a personnel training and competency database built specifically for its purpose, Seajacks were able to overcome the hurdles of managing and sharing data across offshore vessels and multiple sites.

The simplicity of the user-interface makes it easy to forget the complexity of the underlying system. Why is it so complex? For larger organisations, big data is a real issue. We’ve all been waiting patiently for database cogs to churn only to find it’s produced something meaningless or worse nothing at all. With mobile devices and instant communication now something we all take for granted, and decisions expected at similar speed, we need our data to be instantly searched to produce meaningful and helpful information. The complexity of the system provides a robustness which overcomes big data issues and has been praised by offshore organisations and auditors for its speed in providing reports and its flexibility in accommodating different operating parameters and offshore band-width limitations.

Ian Robertson of Seajacks commented ‘The Acclaimed has provided a custom-built, cost-effective solution, suitable for utilisation in our head office, on remote sites and offshore on our vessels. The new system has never let us down and has passed audits from clients and certification authorities successfully and effortlessly. We’re also pleased with the graphical interface. There are many benefits of the new system, such as its simplicity to use, its robustness and reliability – but essentially it solves a problem where there are no obvious market alternatives.’ Seajacks own and operate four of the world's most advanced and capable harsh environment self-propelled jack-up vessels – the Kraken, the Leviathan, the Hydra and the Zaratan - with a fifth, the Scylla due to join the fleet in 2015.

Qualify is developed by The Acclaimed Software Company and is designed specifically for the managing and sharing of training and competency information across multiple sites and vessels, ensuring personnel have suitable certification. It is simple to check and assign the required competencies of personnel, with a second tier of competencies known as ‘selective’ for training which is desired but not mandatory. Personnel information and copies of certificates are stored within the system and an export button provides the option to export the screen to a spreadsheet. Reports are easy to produce to establish upcoming training requirements, due dates, check actual certificates and to ensure that personnel have received adequate training, whether provided externally or in-house, for the purposes of QHSE and to satisfy the requirements of clients and external auditors.

The Acclaimed unlock the valuable information held quietly in your data by providing a user-friendly, easy to use front-end and a system which allows sophisticated data mining. Having the information to hand is especially important in identifying which personnel are competent to carry out certain tasks, particularly in unforeseen circumstances. Live data and information stored at Head Office is now shared securely across locations, empowering vessel and divisional managers and giving clients and auditors direct access. Information is one click away – transforming the ability of all locations to achieve Quality Control and adherence to compliance standards.

Qualify offers high security levels across multiple sites with customisable settings, administrator rights and individuals have their own user logins for easy tracking of user input. Under administer rights, new clients or staff can be added or removed simply or their security access levels upgraded and reset. The easy to use graphical display can be adapted for touch screen functionality for use by handheld devices – so a single database can be live on offshore vessels, onshore bases and handheld devices where there is an internet connection.

The beauty of the system means that existing spreadsheets or databases can be lifted to create the backbone of the system. A spreadsheet can be dragged and dropped into the database and the system is ready to go! Alternatively it can be set up from an existing database, so either way the transfer is painless. Certification fields are specific to the organisation so there are no ‘dead’ fields to wade through – and training programmes and job profiles can be easily changed at any time.

Stan Stamper, Director of The Acclaimed explained ‘We think and work a little differently. We're not all about pushing our existing software products. We’re passionate about understanding the needs of the organisation, listening and providing bespoke solutions. That said, when there is a shared need across the market, there are cost-efficiencies for organisations to share a solution such as Qualify whilst still benefiting from the bespoke nature of the product to make their own customisations and variations.’

Qualify is developed for training data, but also the same technology can be developed for other purposes. Data such as marine reports, QHSE and personnel data or transfer information can be shared instantly between the vessel crews, onshore management and the project client. Demonstrations of Qualify are available by contacting The Acclaimed Software Company, www.the-acclaimed.com.

The Acclaimed Software are software developers with years of experience within the offshore industry having been involved in the early Fugro Multifix GNSS systems and for many years have been the developers behind the VERIPOS Verify QC, Orion and Axiom systems and have written control software for MDL’s Fanbeam laser tracking system, amongst others. The Acclaimed offer smart software solutions which are simple to adopt so become embedded in the fabric of your business - like a cog in a machine.